Stage 23: Refugi de Conangles - Refugi dera Restanca

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Stage 23: Refugi de Conangles - Refugi dera Restanca

Distance/elevation: 11,7 kms / (+908m),(-467m)Time: 4h45min (walking time without stops).Difficulty: a short stage without excessive elevation, mostly along paths. Waymarking is good throughout the
stage, apart from the last part of the climb to La Restanca.Water: throughout the stage there are a number of streams and lakes where you can fill up with water.Suggestions: A magnificent alternative, adding a little more than an hour to the stage, is to follow the ARP
passing Estany Tort de Rius and Estany de Mar, to rejoin the main route at the end of the stage at La Restanca.

Route/Itinerary:

(0h0min;0km) Refugi de Conangles (1.555m).
The GR11 follows the path that leads to the refuge towards the north, crossing the Conangles fir forest. After 1km you pass by a gravel pit and cross
over a creek. After 400m you will reach a crossing with a wooden signpost, meeting the ARP Pyrenees upland route (unmarked). Keep right, heading up
the Conangllos/Conangles valley, until at around 1,900m altitude, the path veers left (north) and zigzags uphill to...

(2h15min; 5.3kms) Port de Rius (2.355m). Keep walking towards Rius lake – at the head of Rius valley – and
walk round the left-hand side of it to the point where it runs off. At this point the ARP (possible variant) peels off from the GR11. Keep walking
down Rius valley, passing a spring (5') where you can get water (in early August it wasn’t dry)
and continue until just before Plan de Rius (small lake), with the first trees up ahead. At around 1,960m altitude leave the path that heads into the
bottom of the valley (GR211- Val d'Aran circular route) and keep right, along a path that runs half-way up.

The main GR11 route heads down towards Rius cabin and crosses Rius valley as far as Plan de Nera, where the next day it rejoins in Colomers across
Port de Ribereta. The route we describe via La Restanca refuge and stage 23, is the variant GR11.18 which
in our view is more interesting that the main route.

The path now heads into the forest, where it becomes a bit unclear, then climbs up to a kind of shoulder, from which point you can make out the dam
and the refuge.

Several buses stop at the Conangles car park every day. The Aigües Tortes Park bus Tortes
Alsa is in service throughout the summer and is ideal for treks across the
park. It completes an almost circular route of the Park with 2 daily services in one direction and 2 in the other. The bus coming from Barcelona or
Lleida also stops at the car park (several per day), and this service is managed by
Alsa.

Activities in the area:

In Aigües Tortes a hugely popular walk is the Carros de Foc
traverse (a circular route that links all 9 of the National Park’s refuges). In Val d'Aran the
Setau Sagèth circular walk is also very well-known.